


baby, it's cold outside

by bettycooopers



Series: twelve days of barchie [7]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, PWP, and they were ROOMMATES, the power's out! uh oh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 10:21:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28349826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bettycooopers/pseuds/bettycooopers
Summary: “You alright?” He’s standing next to her, his hand on the middle of her back before she even realizes it.“I’m fine, Arch. I’m sure the power’ll come right back,” she shrugs, “it always does.”
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Betty Cooper
Series: twelve days of barchie [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2066289
Comments: 3
Kudos: 59





	baby, it's cold outside

**Author's Note:**

> day seven! we're now over halfway through, and entering the half of this twelve days that is more ~winter~ than christmas...a welcome change 😂 hope you guys are entertained, so far! see you tomorrow!
> 
> another thank u to my hockey coach, [becca](https://archiveofourown.org/users/packedyoursaturday), let's go for a hat trick bud 🏒

Betty’s freezing from the Chicago chill when she gets back to the apartment. She shakes the snow out of her hair and rolls her suitcase through the door, smiling at the glow of the Christmas tree lit up in the living room. It’s past ten and sometime between the flight landing at O’Hare and catching a cab in the carline, it had started to snow, hard. 

She hears Archie before she sees him, his fingers pulling from the strings of his guitar and his feet on the creaky wood floors, laughing as she unzips her coat. “Hey,” he chuckles, making his way into the living room and leaning back against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest, a smile on his lips. “How was your flight?”

“Quick,” she grins up at him, pulling her coat off and draping it over the handle of her suitcase, “but good. My mom says hi,” she shoots him a smirk, “she wanted to know why you didn’t come with.”

Archie frowns, shaking his head, “She did not,” he chuckles, poking his tongue out at her. Alice had, actually, but Betty isn’t going to fight him. “What’d you tell her?”

“That you hate her,” Betty shrugs, mustering up her most sincere smile. Archie stares at her baldly and Betty tilts her head to the side, “and you refuse to pay your half of the rent.”

_ “Betty,” _ he laughs, gaping at her. Betty grins up at him and takes a step forward, ruffling her fingers into his hair. Archie’s lived with her for four months now, and he  _ always _ pays his half of the rent – sometimes more, if he can sneak it into the envelope without her noticing. She knows he’s self-conscious about the whole thing – about the fact that people think he just mooches off of her, especially – but she also knows Archie knows her, and knows she’d never  _ actually _ say that, especially to Alice.

Their situation wasn’t meant to be forever – he’d gotten out of the Army and needed a place to crash for a bit while he’d gotten back on his feet, especially after his mom had turned her spare room into an office, and Betty had an empty second bedroom...it had just worked out. Besides, having Archie around was nice – he cooked dinner, changed light bulbs, and looked good in a suit when he accompanied her to the fancy parties the magazine she worked for held. He came in handy, and, well…she’d  _ missed _ him, of course. That part went without saying.

He lets out a laugh as she cards her fingers through his hair, smiling as she walks past him and down the hall into her bedroom. “Want your suitcase?” He calls from the hallway, and she can hear him hanging up her coat for her. 

She’s about to call back for him to leave it – really, all she wants right now is some warm pajamas – when the power flickers off for a long moment, then surges back on, and finally, blacks out entirely.

Betty lets out a little shout and she hears Archie moving in the hallway, frowning as her eyes adjust to the darkness. “You alright?” He’s standing next to her, his hand on the middle of her back before she even realizes it.

“I’m fine, Arch,” she laughs, smiling at him over her shoulder. She toes her shoes off and sits down on her bed, looking up at him – she’s glad that even without the help of a lamp, she knows Archie’s features well enough to make out the look of concern on his face, the way his brows are knit together. “I’m sure it’ll come right back,” she shrugs, “it always does.” 

Archie nods, then sits on the corner of her bed. “You’re right – m’sure it’ll just be a few minutes.” He puts his hand on her kneecap and she can make the grin on his face out, even in the dark, “Wouldn’t want you to be without your nightlight, y’know.”

Betty groans, rolling her eyes at him. He knows full well she hasn’t had a nightlight since they were  _ eleven _ , but he takes every opportunity he gets to make fun of her for it. “Seems like you really missed my _ nightlight _ while I was away,” she mutters, shifting her leg under his grip but not trying to move, not really.

About an hour later, there’s still no power – and somehow, the apartment is colder than Betty’s  _ ever _ felt it, even the night she’d accidentally left her window cracked in the dead of a February deep-freeze. Archie’s stretched out on Betty’s massive bed, his hair impossibly red in the glow of the candlelight, his hands flat over his stomach. Betty’s got herself wrapped in a quilt, her legs crossed beneath her, scrolling over the electric company’s website on her phone to check on the outages in the area. 

“Looks like it’s out all the way up to Edgewater,” Betty mutters, frowning. She feels Archie’s fingers brush her blanket-covered knee and she sighs, peeking over at him. “I don’t think it’s coming back tonight. They’re not even showing an estimate, here.” 

“Well, think warm thoughts,” Archie says, after a long few moments, his voice soft, “maybe that’ll make it come back faster.”

“Shut up,” Betty laughs, poking her foot out from beneath her blanket to kick at him. He catches her foot and she squeals, yanking it back and tucking it back beneath the quilt dramatically. “It’s going to get cold in here,” she sighs, after a long moment. “I mean, not  _ that  _ cold, but we should close the door, at least. Make sure all the hot air stays in here.”

“Sure, keep all the hot air for yourself, I see how it is.”

“You’re  _ staying _ , obviously,” Betty rolls her eyes, shoving his shoulder with her blanket covered arm. “That way the cold air isn’t just  _ circulating _ , through...you know, ventilation, or whatever.”

“That’s so not how that works,” Archie chuckles, but he’s standing up before he can say anything else. He dips out of the room and comes back in with the thicker blanket he’s got on his bed and a sweatshirt, dropping them onto Betty’s bed before pulling her door shut. “But, you’re the smart one, you know.” 

Betty rolls her eyes at him, pushing the blanket off her shoulders and getting up off her bed. She stretches her arms up and feels her t-shirt riding up, cold air rushing against her abdomen, and feels a shiver run down her spine. She peeks over her shoulder at Archie, sticking her tongue at him when she finds him looking at her already. “Cold, hmm,” he raises his brows, his voice soft. She nods, shrugging and moving towards her closet. “Here,” he waits until she turns around, then tosses over his sweatshirt. 

Betty laughs as she catches it, spinning on her heel. “I have a closet full of clothes  _ right _ here, keep this for when you get cold,” she goes to toss it back and he shakes his head.

“That’ll keep you warmer,” he shrugs. “I’m fine, anyway.” Betty smiles softly, tugging the sweatshirt over her head and pulling the sleeves up so her hands aren’t engulfed by fabric. She tugs the bun out of her hair and lets it fan over her shoulders before making her way back to the bed, getting herself settled into her nest of blankets, Archie’s gaze still on her.

She keeps her eyes focused on the window, at the snow tearing down from the sky and gathering onto the windshields of the cars parked down along the street. “My flight landed at the right time,” she says after a long few moments, her voice soft, her eyes still on the window. She peeks over at Archie, who’s lying on his side with his eyes glued to his phone in a way that tells her they weren’t quite so stuck just moments before. He’s lying facing her, his head next to her knee, and he smiles up at her, his face lit in the glow of his phone screen. “It’s still coming down pretty hard.”

“Could’ve landed earlier,” Archie shrugs, setting his phone down and raising his brows up at her. “I was bored here all alone.”

“You could’ve  _ come,  _ Arch,” she takes on a chastising tone, hoping he knows she’s teasing.

“I know,” he mumbles, sitting up and inching a little closer to her. She frowns, the breeze from the closed window hitting her side where his body had been blocking now hitting her. “Didn’t want to make anything uncomfortable, you know?”

“Since when do you make things uncomfortable?” She furrows her brow at him, biting on the inside of her cheek. “It’s been  _ years... _ and no one’s  _ mad  _ at you, Archie. Even Jughead asked why you decided to stay here by yourself.”

Archie frowns and Betty rubs at her eyes, unclear as to what exactly is going on here. “I mean, my mom’s here.” Archie says, his voice quiet. Betty tilts her head, scooting in closer to him, putting her cold feet underneath his calves. “I don’t know. I just…,” he shrugs, trailing off.

“You just what?” Betty presses, watching the candlelight flicker over his solemn face.

“I missed you,” he shrugs, his lips twisting into a soft smile. “I like having you around, y’know?” Betty feels her face soften and she shuts her eyes, shaking her head.

“I like having you around, too, Arch,” she laughs, her voice low. She sees him smile and reaches out, pressing her cold fingers against his forearm before she tucks them back into her blanket cocoon.

Archie’s phone dies around 2 in the morning and for some reason, both of them are stupidly awake. Well, not just for  _ some _ reason, but because Betty had been right – it’s  _ cold _ in her room...really cold. She’s got herself in Archie’s sweatshirt, a soft blanket, a quilt,  _ and _ a comforter, and she’s still cold enough that she feels like her teeth could chatter, if she’d let them. She can tell Archie’s cold, too, even though he keeps insisting he  _ isn’t _ . He’s moved in closer to her to the point where she’s got her head on his shoulder, and his arm is wrapped around her waist, his fingers slipped into her blankets. “You should get in here,” she says, her voice thin, when he readjusts himself for what feels like the fiftieth time. “You’ll be warmer.”

“I’m fi–,” he starts.

“If you say you’re  _ fine,  _ I’m going to scream,” Betty mutters, peeking over at him from the corner of her eye. “You’re  _ cold,  _ Archie – it’s  _ cold _ in here. You’re allowed to say it.”

“But I’m  _ fi–,”  _ he starts again, and Betty snaps her head up off his shoulder and glares at him, hard. “Alright,” he grumbles, “alright, I’m cold.”

_ “Thank _ you,” she shakes her head, “was that so hard? Now,” she looks down at her blankets, chewing on the inside of her cheek. “How do we get you in here without...taking me out?” Archie lets out a little laugh, shaking his head as he takes a deep breath and stands up off the bed, holding his hand out to her to pull her up as well. She pouts out her lower lip and he rolls his eyes, taking her hand and pulling her up out of her blankets. Betty whines as the cold air hits her body, regardless of the fact that she’s basically fully covered, and laughs as Archie pulls the blankets around his back, then wraps his arms around her, pulling her into him.

“How’s that?” he rumbles, his lips close to her ear. She shivers, but for a completely different reason.

“Your face is cold,” she peeks up at him as she speaks, smiling softly and he rolls his eyes at her, laughing. “Otherwise, good.”

“Good, ‘cause it’s as good as you’re gonna get,” he chuckles, walking them back onto her bed and maneuvering them both down. He pulls her into him once he’s situated, reaching around and tucking the blankets under her as she rests her face against his shoulder. She rubs her hands against his arms – for some reason he’s still in a t-shirt, which she hadn’t totally realized – in an attempt to warm him up. 

The hard muscle under his skin flexes against her hands and she swallows, slipping one of her legs between his and smiling tentatively up at him. She sees his face in the glow of the melted down candles, swallowing at the look of him. Yes, okay, she’s noticed over the last few months how...good he looks, how much he’s grown up in the past few years. His jaw is sharper, his eyes are warmer despite the fact that he’s seen a  _ hell  _ of a lot more, his chest and shoulders are broader, his muscles are more defined all over. The first time she’d seen him shirtless, she’s pretty sure she’d almost buckled at the knees. 

So, yes, okay, she’s  _ noticed.  _ That doesn’t mean there’s anything to be  _ done _ about it, though. Archie looking...like that isn’t exactly revelatory – just like her noticing isn’t, either. It’s just...something she’s always lived with, and something she’s sure she’ll continue to live with.

It doesn’t mean she can’t admire it, though.

“Better? Warmer?” She doesn’t mean her voice to come out quite as softly as it does, but she hears it and shuts her eyes for a moment, then opens them to find him fully in her gaze. He’s got a look in his eyes that she doesn’t really recognize. “What?”

“Nothing,” he shakes his head, but his face is moving closer to hers. He pulls her impossibly tighter against him and settles his hands on her lower back. “Nothing, m’good. Warm, even.”

She nods, swallowing and keeping her eyes on his face even though her entire body is  _ screaming  _ to tear them away. She hears her breath hitch when he dips his face down further, and she can feel his breath on her skin.

“Archie,” she feels her gaze falling to his lips, then moving back up to his eyes.

“Hmm?” His eyes are absolutely on her mouth. She doesn’t say anything, just slides her leg gently against his. He lets out a low laugh, and she’s about to say something – she swears, she is, something about how she’s glad he’s warmer, or how she’s glad he’s here with her, period, or  _ something,  _ but his lips are on hers too quickly for her to get any words out. She’s startled – she never thought she’d be  _ startled  _ by a kiss from Archie, but she’s not expecting it, somehow, so she hears herself gasp, but she settles into it quickly, pressing her cold fingers against the back of his neck to pull him closer.

Her mind blanks out as she kisses him, his tongue pressing lazily into her mouth, his stubble grazing her skin – and it’s not at all how she imagined it happening, if it were going to happen again, but it’s  _ better _ . It’s slow, just the right amount of tender, just the right amount of tease. His fingers slide up and beneath the sweatshirt –  _ his  _ sweatshirt – his frozen palms sending a shiver down her spine as he presses them into her back. “Betty,” he whispers as he nips at her lips, then leans down and kisses her jaw softly, “I’ve wanted to do this since before you left.”

“I’ve wanted to do this since we were fifteen, Arch,” she laughs out, her eyes closed, her cheeks flushing, “I think I’ve got you beat there.” She feels him shake his head, a laugh bubbling in his throat as he kisses down hers, tugging at the neck of his sweatshirt to give him better access.

“Blurring the details a little, Betts,” he mumbles, scraping his teeth against her neck, and she takes the opportunity to pull his face back up to hers, kissing him so he’ll shut up. She presses her teeth into his lower lip, her cheeks flushing at the growl he lets out, and she opens her eyes with great force, her lids heavy. She finds him looking back at her, his own eyes heavy lidded and bleary. She hears herself let out a breathy whimper, feels him drag his thumb along her waist, feels him moving them so he’s lying on top of her, his mouth pressing against hers.

“Arch,” she whispers as she feels him pressing his fingers down against the waistband of her pants, “s’cold,” she raises her brows at him, trying to catch her breath, “s’too cold to be naked.”

“You won’t,” he mumbles, “you won’t be naked...not all the way.” He presses his face against her neck and kisses her skin chastely, softly. “Promise, I’ll keep you warm,” he breathes, and she feels herself shiver as she nods, wrapping her arms around his neck and stringing her fingers into his hair. 

She laughs as he pushes her pants off, taking her panties with them, then maneuvers his own down, kicking them into the bottom of their blanket cocoon. Her laugh dies in her throat as he reaches between them and slides a finger teasingly along her wet folds, her eyes falling shut, a soft moan escaping her lips. “Arch,” she breathes, licking her lips and tilting her hips up, searching for his hand. He slides the hand up her body, pressing it beneath his sweatshirt, grazing her body gently before pulling it back out, resting it on her hip. 

She frowns, reaching one of her hands down and sliding it beneath his shirt, scratching her nails against his chest, “Not fair,” he mumbles, pressing a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth, shaking his head gently,  _ “so _ not fair.”

“You’re one to talk,” she breathes, tilting her head to the side and finding his mouth, kissing him fully, running her tongue over his lower lip before pressing it into his mouth lazily. 

He pulls away for a moment, and she feels like she might die at the way he’s looking at her as he reaches up and brushes the flyaways from her bun out of her face. “You...you’re,” he shuts his eyes, a soft smile on his lips, a nervous laugh in his throat, “you want to, right?”

She doesn’t mean to laugh in his face, but she does, then scratches gently at the back of his scalp. “Archie, if you don’t  _ fuck _ me,” she breathes, “after all that, m’throwing you in the snow.” He laughs, pressing his face down against hers, his forehead on hers as he positions himself and pushes into her, their groans mixing together as Betty grabs onto his shoulder, digging her nails into it.

He starts slow, she thinks on her behalf, but when she hooks her legs around his waist and pulls him in, lifting her hips to meet him, she feels him losing control a little, moving his hips faster. “Go, Arch,” she breathes, a bit of a whine in her voice,  _ “go, go, go.” _

Archie obliges, his breathing ragged as he keeps his mouth pressed to hers. “Fuck,” he groans,  _ “fuck, _ Betty.”

She can tell he’s not lasting long, and she’s about to reach her hand between them when she feels his fingers slide over her clit, circling it and she lets out a low whine, her head pressing back into the pillow. “ _ Yes,” _ she moans, tightening her leg around him. He keeps it up, his fingers pressed to her, his hips buried in her, his breathing heavy against her neck.

He breathes out a, “come, Betts,” against the hollow of her neck and she can feel her body listening, but her mind isn’t working anymore. She feels herself tightening around him and she lets out a loud, uncontrolled moan as she comes, feeling him spilling into her just moments later, and then his body is pressed down on top of hers fully, his weight heavy on her. She doesn’t care. She lazily wraps her arms around him and breathes heavily as she holds onto Archie like her life depends on it. It _might_ , honestly.

She traces lazy little patterns into his shoulder with her little finger, her nails swirling along his skin as she tries to remember how to think, how to speak, how to be – it’s not working, but she’s  _ trying,  _ at least. “Betts,” he mumbles, after a long few minutes of Betty watching the candlelight flicker against her ceiling.

“Hmm?” She slips her fingers from his shoulder up and into his hair, pulling them gently through over and over. 

“Not a one time thing, right?” She can hear him trying to mask the part of his voice that’s serious, and she feels her eyes soften, a soft little sound come out from the back of her throat. “Not just ‘cause you needed to warm up?”

“Not just ‘cause I needed to warm up,” she laughs, but she feels her voice getting thicker, her eyes welling up. She pulls his face up from her neck and slides her thumb over his cheek, her eyes searching his face for a long moment before she speaks. “You’re not  _ that _ good at doing that, anyway.” She smiles as she hears him laugh, albeit softly. “Not a one time thing,” she whispers, brushing her thumb along his lower lip.

He kisses the pad of her finger and she lets her eyes shut, her head falling back against the pillow as he presses his weight back down into her. “Good,” he murmurs against her neck, his breath tickling her skin. He pulls the blankets tighter around them as she watches the candle flicker out and leave them swathed in soft darkness.

**Author's Note:**

> you can follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/bettycooopers) or [tumblr](https://bettycooopers.tumblr.com) if you feel like watching me break down in real time!


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